The Universe as Quantum Computer

In the very resent popular article Seth Lloyd, a professor from mechanical engineering department, MIT has reviewed the history of digital computation, and investigates just how far the concept of computation can be taken. In his article he addresses the question of whether the universe itself is in fact a giant computer, and if so, just what kind of computer it is.

He shows that the universe can be regarded as a giant quantum computer. The quantum computational model of the universe explains a variety of observed phenomena not encompassed by the ordinary laws of physics. In particular, the model shows that the the quantum computational universe automatically gives rise to a mix of randomness and order, and to both simple and complex systems.